Michael Carrick’s position as Manchester United manager came under further threat after his side suffered a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League, with Lisandro Martinez’s reckless dismissal adding to the woes of the struggling English giants on Saturday.
It was also a disappointing day for Manchester City, who suffered a second consecutive league defeat after losing 1-0 at home to Brighton, having started the campaign with seven successive victories.
Carrick was already under intense pressure heading into the match at Stamford Bridge, seemingly fighting to keep his job on a game-by-game basis.
He restored captain Bruno Fernandes to the starting line-up after dropping him last week, but United’s struggles continued as second-half goals from Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer sealed Chelsea’s victory.
The defeat extended United’s winless run in all competitions to nine matches, their longest such spell since 1988, according to the BBC.
“Things have gone against us, and gone against us in a big way,” Carrick said. “It unravelled quickly.”
Martinez red card compounds United’s problems
Palmer put Chelsea ahead from the penalty spot in the 64th minute after Martinez struck Wesley Fofana in the face with a raised elbow while challenging for a corner.
A video review confirmed the offence, and the Argentina defender was sent off after receiving his second yellow card within four minutes.
Martinez had also recently attracted attention for criticising United’s hierarchy.
As he left the pitch and headed down the tunnel, Carrick did not acknowledge the defender.
“It has a major importance on the game,” Carrick said of the dismissal. “A huge moment.”
United edge closer to relegation zone
United remained on just one league victory after nine matches, sitting one point and one place above the relegation zone.
With Aston Villa and Liverpool next on their Premier League schedule, the 20-time English champions face the prospect of dropping into the bottom three.
United have managed only two victories in 13 matches across all competitions this season, against promoted Ipswich in the Premier League and Champions League newcomers Sabah.
Their next match is at home to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Carrick expecting to remain in charge.
“I’m just looking forward to getting the boys ready for midweek,” he said.
“I thought it was as good as we’d played for some time in the first half. We looked dangerous, we looked fluid, we looked like a good team.”
Haaland’s scoring run ends as Brighton stun City
Manchester City also suffered a setback as Brighton secured a 1-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
City striker Erling Haaland had scored in each of his previous seven league matches, leaving him four short of Leicester great Jamie Vardy’s record for scoring in consecutive games.
However, his scoring streak ended against Brighton, who had also faced City in the English League Cup on Wednesday, losing on penalties.
Yasin Ayari, one of Brighton’s players who missed in the penalty shootout, made amends by scoring the winner in the 11th minute.
City had also lost 2-1 to Aston Villa last weekend. Arsenal, level on points with City in second place, could move to the top of the standings with a win or draw against Liverpool on Sunday.
“We were aware that we weren’t going to win all the games,” City manager Enzo Maresca said.
Maresca, who became the first manager to win his opening seven Premier League matches in charge of a club, acknowledged that the team was going through a difficult spell.
“So this kind of moment has arrived … we need to move on and win games as soon as possible,” he said.
City’s future also remains uncertain after the club was found guilty of large-scale financial rule breaches in a major verdict last month. The club is awaiting its sanction and has also lodged an appeal.
Brighton moved up to third place, two points behind the leaders, after recording victories over both Arsenal and City without conceding a goal.
Bournemouth and Tottenham continue winning runs
Bournemouth maintained their impressive form with a 2-0 victory over Leeds, thanks to goals from Evanilson and Amine Adli.
The result marked their sixth consecutive victory in all competitions without conceding, lifting them to seventh place.
Tottenham moved up to eighth, level on points with Bournemouth, after beating 10-man Crystal Palace 2-0 for their third successive victory.
Palace were reduced to 10 men in the 13th minute when Jean-Philippe Mateta received a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Micky van de Ven.
Defenders Archie Gray and Jan Paul van Hecke subsequently scored for Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa surrendered their lead to draw 1-1 with Fulham after goalkeeper Zion Suzuki allowed an inswinging corner to cross his own goal line. Nicolas Jackson had earlier put Villa ahead.
Sunderland remained bottom after a 3-1 defeat at Coventry, while second-bottom Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 away to Brentford.
Promoted sides Hull and Ipswich shared the points in a 2-2 draw.
